Mayor encourages more reading, healthier lifestyle

Happy New Year! 2013 beckons with potential and promise. Goals, resolutions and reaffirmations are the blueprints of constructive changes. It's time for final plan check and approval.

Charles T. Jones often exhorted, "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you meet."

Books arrive in different forms today but the power of ideas, experiences and knowledge obtained through reading merits a resolution to use that idle time to read more, about diverse subjects, and to read more frequently in 2013. Get acquainted with both our newly expanded and impressive Main Library, and the architecturally significant (hidden treasure) Hunt Branch Library to browse for ideas and inspiration.

The power of "the people you meet" and a goal to meet them in 2013 propels personal and professional growth and satisfaction, and can create a sense of connectedness or belonging. In our increasingly urban and electronically "virtual" social existence, we find harbor in the real world by replacing strangers with friends we have not yet met. There are nearly 140,000 residents in Fullerton; I plan to hold regular town hall and neighborhood gatherings where I look forward to meeting many more of you in 2013.

Health and fitness goals like financial goals are about regular habits, balance and moderation. Most of these are within our direct control, but occasionally some are not. For most of us, knowing the right thing to do and then doing it is not as easy as it seems. Maintaining good health, physical or financial, however, requires that we control our choices or they will most certainly control us. My routine, which includes sitting through often lengthy meetings, pre-empted regular visits to my gym in 2012. My two bicycles, similarly neglected, patiently await the open road and trails in Fullerton and beyond.

I look forward to 2013, and as Mayor of Fullerton, am grateful for the opportunity to work with you to help bring improved conditions, effective municipal operations and maximize successful and satisfactory outcomes. Let's begin!